The Reason for Climate Change

In recent years countless people have been trying to find the cause for the current climate change that has been severely affecting our planet as of late Some researchers say that the sun is getting warmer as years go by, others say it's due to the increase of freshwater in the ocean. However, there is one undeniable fact that has been proven to radically affect the environment the way it has been today. This factor is the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Throughout humanities existence we have been using up most of the Earth's natural resources one more than others, fossil fuels. Prior to the Industrial Revolution the atmospheric concentrations were about 280 parts per million (ppm) for CO2 , now CO2 makes up 386 ppm in the atmoshpere and is rapidly rising. Right now CO2 is mostly monitored from a series of ground observation stations, the most famous being the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. These stations have been measuring atmospheric CO2 levels since 1958. However, despite the amount of data collected by these ground stations it cannot match the information provided by a mere 1-day orbit by the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO).

OCO is a new $278-million satellite that is equipped with three spectrometers to analyze light reflected off the Earth. The satellite also uses a GPS system, commonly found on cell phones and similar devices, to pin point its geographical position to the Earth. The satellite will use this technology to determine how many CO2 molecules are in a part of the atmosphere by how much infrared light has been absorbed. How will this help prevent CO2 concentration you may ask? Well, scientist would analyse the data and enable them to determine what parts of the planet are responsible for producing vast quantities of CO2. Areas like coal power factories, highways, even decaying forests.

In order for this device to analyse the atmosphere the satellite will be placed at an altitude of 438 miles traveling at a velocity of 4.3 miles per second. The satellite will take three measurements per second while circling the Earth from pole to pole as the planet rotates beneath it from its polar orbit. This will lead to a total of 8 million measurements every 16 days. This half ton satellite was scheduled to blast at 4:51 A.M. (Eastern time) on February 24. Hopefully, this device will allow us to decrease the level of concentration of CO2 on the planet and create a cleaner environment for us to live in.